On the Spin Dependence of Detection Times and the Nonmeasurability of Arrival Times

Abstract

According to a well-known principle of quantum physics, the statistics of the outcomes of any quantum experiment are governed by a Positive Operator-Valued Measure (POVM). In particular, for experiments designed to measure a specific physical quantity, like the time of a particle's first arrival at a surface, this principle establishes that if the probability distribution of that quantity does not arise from a POVM, no such experiment exists. Such is the case with the arrival time distributions proposed by Das and D\"urr [arXiv:1802.07141], due to the nature of their spin dependence.